diplomacy

Anna Wintour for Ambassador! Ten Good Reasons

Photo: Marc Piasecki/WireImage

After months of rumors that Anna Wintour is angling for a diplomatic post, Bloomberg reports that the Vogue editor-in-chief really is on President Obama’s short list, either for the U.K. or Paris post. Apart from our spectator’s interest in Wintour’s tyranny at Vogue ending, we can see why the British-born editor might actually want the job: It’d be a chance to return home to Europe after decades in America, and it’s one job that’s undeniably more important than running a fashion magazine. Plus, she’s clearly obsessed with politics, and this is the only way we could see her legitimately joining those ranks.

1. She’s earned it.
As President Obama’s fourth-biggest fund-raiser this election cycle, Wintour deserves her pick of the traditional spoils of victory.

2. She speaks the language.
A London native, Wintour’s English is impeccable.

3. She’d make an invaluable mole.
Fleet Street could use a fresh source inside 10 Downing, and Wintour’s brother Patrick is the politics editor at the Guardian.

4. Being an ambassador mostly involves going to fancy parties and reporting back, which is what Vogue does.
We read those diplomatic cables WikiLeaks published — and they’re mostly party reports. In fact, Lauren Santo Domingo’s Vogue nuptials had nothing on this Dagestan destination wedding.

5. She’s not afraid to schmooze with unpopular foreign leaders.
Case in point: Asma Assad, “Desert Rose.”

6. Makeover for (likely) incoming Secretary of State Susan Rice!
The two are already acquainted from Rice’s Vogue profile.

7. New town car.
Or, simply stick a tiny American flag in the old Mercedes. Either way, she has enough clothes. It’s time for an automobile allowance.

8. New townhouse.
If appointed, Wintour would trade her West Village townhouse for Winfield House, a Neo-Georgian townhouse with the biggest private garden in central London, if you don’t count Buckingham Palace.

9. If Wintour left Vogue, Azzedine Alaïa could be in the magazine again.
In a bit of collateral diplomacy, the end of the Alaia-Vogue feud would be good for Tunisian-American relations.

10. It’s a dignified exit.
At 63, it’s time for Wintour to start thinking about her retirement. What other gig augments her clout, guarantees top-notch invites, comes with chic new digs, and is basically impossible to mess up? Certainly not taking on an expanded executive role at Condé Nast.

Anna Wintour for Ambassador! Ten Good Reasons